How to Be a Heartbreaker

“How to Be a Heartbreaker” was the third and final single from British/Welsh/Greek singer MARINA’s (formerly known as “Marina and the Diamonds”) 2012 album, “Electra Heart”.

MARINA has publicly stated that the track was inspired by her own experiences of heartbreak, along with the rest of the album following the same theme. “Before I wrote the album I was in love with this person who didn’t make enough effort. He wasn’t really in love with me and I’d never experienced that before. I was like ‘I never want that to happen again.’ So I started to develop this character and that developed into an album.” The song was written by MARINA, along with (controversial – and now highly unliked) music producer Dr. Luke (Lukasz Gottwald), Henry Walter, Benjamin Levin, Ammar Malik and Daniel Omelio. “How to Be a Heartbreaker” lists off the steps you need to follow in order to be a heartbreaker, starting with: “Rule number one, is that you gotta have fun”. The track, and particularly its music video, opened up a new wave of discussion about sexual equality and unfair stereotypes that surround women when it comes to sex.

The music video for “How to Be a Heartbreaker” was released on YouTube on the 28th September 2012. It was due to premiere online on the 24th September, however problems occurred on its original day of release, so MARINA took to Twitter to explain the situation: “So, someone at my record label won’t let me release the video because I look ugly in it apparently and we need more money and time to paint out ugly parts. The video will be out end of the week. If not, I am happy to leak the ‘minger’ version for my fans.” This lead to questions from fans, and was later believed to be the influence of Dr. Luke, who in the past years has been sued and exposed by multiple women artists for sexual harassment and abuse. The video was directed by duo Marc & Ish and filmed in August 2012, and features MARINA in a shower surrounded by male models in speedos and features many close-ups of the models throughout the video. MARINA also has four different lovers in the video and managed to flip the switch on men being sexualized in a music video, rather than women. As of November 2019, the music video has over 58 million views, and over 616 thousand likes.

Release Date: 7th December 2012

Songwriter/s: Marina Diamandis, Lukasz Gottwald, Henry Walter, Benjamin Levin, Ammar Malik & Daniel Omelio

Producer/s: Dr. Luke, Cirkut & Benny Blanco

Label/s: 679 / Atlantic

Music Video Release Date: 28th September 212

Music Video Director/s: Marc & Ish

Chart Rankings & Certifications: In its year of release, “How to Be a Heartbreaker” reach American charts and European charts. It’s peak positions in various countries are as follows: #18 in Denmark, #23 in Finland, #29 in Hungary, #21 in Ireland, #3 in Poland, #73 in Scotland, #88 in the UK and #42 on the US Billboard Pop Digital Songs chart. The track is certified Platinum in Denmark.

The lyrics to “How to Be a Heartbreaker” can be accessed here: LINK